Cleffa Line/GSC
Cleffa can be hatched from the Odd Egg received at the Pokémon Daycare, only in Crystal. Clefairy may be found in the wild in Mount Moon in all versions, as well as Routes 3 and 4 at night in Crystal. A Moon Stone will be given by the player's mom to the player if the player lets her save money. Another Moon Stone is available in the Tohjo Falls or, only in Crystal, in the Ruins of Alph, after solving one of the puzzles. Further Moon Stones may be obtained by visiting Mt. Moon Square on Mondays, and are also held by wild Clefairy. Clefable reprises its Gen I role as a thoroughly well-rounded 'mon. Being able to learn a good spread of coverage moves (most prominently all three elemental punches) as well as solid bulk, especially on the Special side make for an excellent choice of teammate, albeit a late one if not obtained from the Odd Egg. Important Matchups Johto * Gym #3 - Whitney (Goldenrod City, Normal-type): Clefairy vs Clefairy is a bit of a dice roll even with Return, but unless Whitney's gets very lucky with Doubleslap or Metronome you should be able to pull it off. Clefairy can provide support against Miltank with Sing and Charm but doesn't have the power to fight her directly, mainly due to Milk Drink being a thing. * Rival (Burned Tower): Haunter can only be elementally punched to death if healing is allowed, otherwise Curse will take out Clefairy first. Zubat is easily dealt with using Ice/Thunderpunch. Fire Punch the Magnemite. Quilava is liable to annoy with Smokescreen but is not much of a direct threat. A Clefairy with Thunderpunch can smack down Croconaw. Fire or Ice Punch for Bayleef. (Preferably the former since Charcoal's available.) * Gym #4 - Morty (Ecruteak City, Ghost-type): Elemental punches are your weapon of choice here, preferably two kinds due to the prevalence of Spite in these fights. The lead Gastly's only doable if healing is allowed or if it fails to start with Curse. The level 21 Haunter will kill with Curse if you can't heal it away; the level 23 one can only harm Clefairy with something Mimiced, so try to trick it into coping something useless like Charm. Gengar's only source of damage is Dream Eater so as long as you don't run out of Awakenings/Mint Berries/Etc. Clefairy can gradually punch it to death. * Eusine (Cianwood City, Crystal only): With Shadow Ball in hand, Clefable easily defeats the likes of Drowzee and Haunter. Electrode is much less desirable, given that its Thunder and Clefable's best move (Return) are both 3HKOs and Electrode is obviously faster. Then again, it would have to actually hit with all those Thunders, which is not that likely. * Gym #5 - Chuck (Cianwood City, Fighting-type): Let's not use a Normal type in a Fighting gym, okay? * Gym #6 - Jasmine (Olivine City, Steel-type): Fire Punch works wonders against her whole team, even moreso if Steelix foolishly uses Sunny Day. * Rocket Executive battle #1 (Team Rocket HQ): If you're taking this on after Jasmine the sheer level advantage makes this a curbstomp in your favor. If taking it on as soon as it's available, Zubat still easy with Thunder/Ice Punch, Koffing must be avoided due to its potentially lethal Self-Destruct and Raticate's a bit too strong with its Hyper Fang. * Rocket Executive battle #2 (Team Rocket HQ): This fight's pretty easy even without sequence breaking. Return for Arbok, Fire/Ice Punch for Gloom and Thunder/Ice Punch for Murkrow. * Gym #7 - Pryce (Mahogany Town, Ice-type): Both Seel and Dewgong can be Thunder Punched, though it will take a bit longer due to Rest. Piloswine would prefer to get Fire Punched, and even if it manages to land all its Blizzards Clefable will still come out on top. * Rocket Executive battle #3 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Not so good. Clefable can barely take a Self-Destruct at full health, and definitely won't survive Weezing's Explosion, while only being able to 3HKO a Koffing with Return. * Rival (Goldenrod Underground): Mop up Golbat with Ice/Thunder Punch. Fire Punch Magnemite into oblivion. Shadow Ball will quickly dispatch Haunter, who can only harm with Curse anyway. Sneasel is dealt with using Fire Punch. Return can take care of Quilava, provided it doesn't Smokescreen into rage-inducing levels. Thunder Punch works for Feraligatr, whose nice stats are let down by its weak moves. Fire/Ice Punch Meganium while not giving a crap about its Reflect. * Rocket Executive battle #4 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): The Gloom's now a Vileplume, but it hardly matters. Handle it just like before. * Rocket Executive battle #5 (Goldenrod Radio Tower): Return spam ahoy! Clefable's Special bulk is a huge boon here. * Suicune (Bell Tower, Crystal only): As long as Suicune doesn't lead with Rain Dance Clefable should be able to Thunderpunch it to death. * Gym #8 - Clair (Blackthorn City, Dragon-type): Barring paralysis BS, Clefable can lay an Ice Punch-flavored smackdown on any Dragonair. Return's better for Kingdra, though its penchant for using Smokescreen means using an X Accuracy is basically mandatory. * Rival (Victory Road): Not much different than the tunnel fight. Magnemite's now a Magneton but still as Fire Punchable as before, Typhlosion's dealt with in the same fashion as Quilava and the new Kadabra gets wrecked by Shadow Ball or Return. * Elite Four Will (Indigo Plateau, Psychic-type): Thunder Punch for the Xatu pair. Fire/Ice Punch Exeggutor, but only if Clefable is faster and doesn't have its Special Defence lowered. Slowbro should really be left to someone who can kill it quicker, before it builds up ludicrous amounts of Curses/Amnesias. Jynx is dealt with using Shadow Ball or Return; Fire Punch is insufficient due to its impressive Special Defence. * Elite Four Koga (Indigo Plateau, Poison-type): Fire Punch Ariados and Venomoth. Avoid Forretress; Fire Punch won't be enough to OHKO it, while its Explosion is lethal. Also avoid Muk; best Clefable has for it is a 4HKOing Return before Acid Armor and it also has Minimize and Toxic to ruin Clefable's day. Crobat can theoretically be Thunder/Ice Punched, but it's more likely to avoid too many attacks with Double Team while chipping away with Wing Attack and Toxic. * Elite Four Bruno (Indigo Plateau, Fighting-type): Avoid Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan and Machamp because of their Fighting-type moves. Hitmontop has no fighting moves and can be Returned to death, though it'll take a while due to its bulk and it having Detect and Dig. Onix is easily taken out with Ice Punch. * Elite Four Karen (Indigo Plateau, Dark-type): Return against Umbreon, but make sure to use an X Accuracy and have cures for confusion handy. Vileplume can be fought using Fire/Ice Punch, but only during the morning/day to keep it from outpacing your damage with Moonlight. Fragile Murkrow is stopped by two or three Ice/Thunder Punches. Gengar is risky, since it has Destiny Bond; on the other hand Clefable has little else to fear from it and can deal heavy damage against it with Shadow Ball. Houndoom, though, is best left to someone else; Flamethrower has a chance of 3HKOing which is also how many Returns it will take. * Champion Lance (Indigo Plateau, Flying-type): Thunder Punch wrecks Gyarados. Ice Punch is effective against the Dragonites, provided Thunder Wave doesn't trip you up. Charizard's off-limits: you each may score a 3HKO with your best moves and Charizard's faster. Aerodactyl is Thunder/Ice Punchable, dependant on how lucky it gets with Rock Slide flinches/Ancientpower stat boosts. Kanto From this point onwards, you can fight the gyms in any order, though you will need to retrieve the Machine Parts from the Cerulean City gym before you have access to the earlier portion of Kanto. Feel free to anticipate or postpone any battles as needed. ...That is, if your Clefable was originally from the Odd Egg, as otherwise you'd need to clear the Cerulean quest to even have one in the first place. * Gym #9 - Brock (Pewter City, Rock-type): Ice Punch/Beam Graveler, Rhyhorn and Onix and Thunder Punch/Bolt Omastar and Kabutops. As long as healing's allowed, Clefable can sweep on its own. * Rival (Mt. Moon, optional): Sneasel, Golbat and Magneton have gained levels and nothing else, so handle them in the same fashion as before. Gengar and Alakazam are just as vulnerable to Shadow Ball as their pre-evos, and the former still cannot directly attack Clefable. Meganium's traded Reflect for Light Screen, meaning that Return is the weapon of choice this time. Feraligatr is actually weaker, having lost Slash for Bite, and as Thunderpunchable as ever. Typhlosion has Swift instead of Ember, but it's of little consequence; Return spam it. * Gym #10 - Misty (Cerulean City, Water-type): A League-level Clefable will be able to beat Golduck with just Thunderpunch; a more evenly leveled one will need to hold a Magnet, or use Thunderbolt. In a similar fashion, Clefable will need to be overleveled to take on Quagsire, using Return. (Unless, for some reason, you gave it Solarbeam, and even that won't be enough if it's raining.) Lapras is too dang bulky for even a higher leveled Clefable, and that's without taking Perish Song into account. Clefable cannot outmuscle Starmie's Recover without resorting to Thunder, which is only really viable if it's raining. * Gym #11 - Lt. Surge (Vermilion City, Electric-type): Return for Raichu; it technically could knock out Clefable, but only at equal or lower levels and would have to land every Thunder. Exercise caution around the Electrode twins; Clefable can survive an Explosion, but not by much, and will definitely die if it gets Screeched at. Fire Punch/Flamethrower dispatches Magneton; like Raichu it would have to hit each turn with a highly inaccurate more, and Zap Cannon's even worse than Thunder in that regard. Electabuzz is handled just like Raichu. * Gym #12 - Erika (Celadon City, Grass-type): Clefable can pretty much mow down (pun not intended) anything here with Fire Punch/Flamethrower. Ice Beam/Punch is also viable, but Fire is preferred due to the presence of Sunny Day. Bonus points if you take her on at morning/night to weaken Synthesis. * Gym #13 - Janine (Fuchsia City, Poison-type): * Gym #14 - Sabrina (Saffron City, Psychic-type): Espeon will require league levels to beat (using Shadow Ball or Return) and even then there's a risk of missing via Sand-Attack or having Special Defense lowered by Psychic. Mr. Mime's plausible,but a lot depends on how fast it bunkers down with Barrier and Reflect. Oddly, Alakazam's the most beatable, provided it doesn't put up Reflect right away (or have one already up.) * Gym #15 - Blaine (Seafoam Islands, Fire-type): A higher leveled Clefable can beat Magcargo with Thunderpunch/bolt or Psychic; equal levels won't cut it. Return is preferable for Magmar. Do not battle Rapidash under the sun, and be cautious of fighting it in plain weather; it would have to hit with three Fire Blasts, which is unlikely but still possible. * Gym #16 - Blue (Viridian City): Ice Punch/Beam or their Electric counterparts make quick work of Pidgeot and its weak moves. You can try against Alakazam with Return or Shadow Ball, though if Clefable fails to two-shot it it should retreat. Ice Punch/Beam the Rhydon, being aware that Clefable won't have much have much health left if it takes two Earthquakes. Fry Gyarados with Thunder Punch/Bolt. Whichever Fire or Ice move Clefable has works for Exeggutor, with a preference for Fire due to Sunny Day. Arcanine is not recommended; you'll 4HKO each other with Return and Flamethrower respectfully but Arcanine's much faster * Rival (Indigo Plateau, optional): Sneasel and Gengar are unchanged from Mt. Moon apart from gaining some levels, so act accordingly. Golbat's finally a Crobat, but Ice or Electric moves will still conquer it. Magneton's much more dangerous now that it's learned Thunder, though it would have to land each hit in order to knock out Clefable. Alakazam should be treated similar to Blue's, though note that it has Future Sight in place of Disable. Typhlosion's much like Magneton, in the sense of hitting with each Fire Blast being the only threat it could pose. Feraligatr actually has a decent STAB move now (Surf); Thunderbolt is sure to knock it out first but Thunderpunch only will if Clefable's holding a Magnet. Meganium's not really Clefable's cup of tea; it still walls your super-effective moves with Light Screen, but now it's added Giga Drain to prolong the fight further via self-healing. * Red (Mt. Silver): Pikachu is weak; spam Return until it dies. Espeon's ill-advised; your both score 3HKOs with your best moves and Espeon's faster, plus it has Reflect. Neither should Clefable battle Snorlax as it can't cut through that bulk quick enough to get past Rest. Because of its Synthesis and high Special Defense, Venusaur should only be fought if the battle is during the morning or night and Clefable has Flamethrower. A Clefable with Thunderbolt can probably take on Charizard; it's a 3HKO from each but only at a 10% chance for Charizard; just don't try it if Sunny Day's in effect. Blastoise is beatable if Clefable has Thunderbolt; Thunderpunch is not strong enough. Moves Cleffa starts with Pound (inferior to Dizzy Punch/Return), Charm (an alright early crutch), Encore (meh) and since it hatched from the Odd Egg, Dizzy Punch (useful until Return's boosted above it). Clefairy starts with the worse Growl instead of Charm in addition to Pound and Encore. Cleffa only gets two more moves; Sing at level 8 and Sweet Kiss at level 13, both of which suffer from lacking accuracy. Clefairy instead learns DoubleSlap at level 13 (inferior to Return), Minimize at level 19 (luck-based), Defense Curl at level 26 (not effective enough to be worth a slot), Metronome at level 34 (even more luck-based), Moonlight at level 43 (decent for nighttime players that can't use items, but late) and Light Screen at level 53 (a great move, but keeping Clefairy unevolved this long is painful). Luckily it does much better in the TM department. Fire Punch, Ice Punch and Thunder Punch are all available and renewable, providing great coverage just by themselves. (Though a Crystal player will want to replace them with Flamethrower, Ice Beam and Thunderbolt later on.) Alternately, 'Fire Blast, Blizzard and Thunder can be used if you're willing to risk the accuracy. Return has enough power that even Clefable's weaker Attack stat can make good use of it. Psychic and Shadow Ball are alright, though you'll probably have better candidates for them. Recommended moves: Return, and either two of Fire/Ice/Thunder Punch or their stronger counterparts + Psychic/Shadow Ball or all three punches/beams Recommended Teammates *'Psychic types:' Psychic types are the ideal counter for Clefable's nemesis: Fighting types. Meanwile, Clefable protects its Psychic partner by being immune to Ghost. ** A few examples of Pokémon that fit this description, among others include: Alakazam, Hypno, Mr. Mime, Xatu and Espeon. *'Physical Attackers: '''While Clefable fares well attacking Specially, its Attack stat and choice of moves to use with it are less impressive. **''A few examples of Pokémon that fit this description, among others include: Dragonite, Machamp, Scizor and Gyarados. Other Cleffa's stats Clefairy's stats Clefable's stats * At what point in the game should I be evolved? Try to evolve Cleffa at level 13 or earlier (if not right away) as that's the last level it learns moves at. Clefairy can be evolved as soon as a Moon Stone is aquired, unless you think waiting until level 53 for Light Screen is worth it. * How good is the Cleffa line in a Nuzlocke? Quite good. Good bulk and wide coverage allow it to have a place in virtually any team. * Weaknesses: Fighting * Resistances: None * Immunities: Ghost * Neutralities: Normal, Flying, Poison, Ground, Rock, Bug, Steel, Fire, Water, Grass, Electric, Psychic, Ice, Dragon, Dark Category:Gold/Silver/Crystal